Venus Williams Claims WTA Elite Trophy

Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (6) to win the WTA Elite Trophy on Sunday.

Pliskova had a set point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker but Williams hit back-to-back forehand winners to close out the win.

"Seven weeks here in Asia and now I feel like it's my home," Williams said. "I'm so excited to win the first trophy in Zhuhai. All the players felt so welcome here and we appreciated all of the enthusiasm."

With her third win of the year, Williams returns to the top 10 for the first time in more than four years.

The tournament brought together 11 of the top players who did not qualify for last week's WTA Finals in Singapore.

Williams raced out to an early 4-1 lead in the first set, but the third-seeded Pliskova fought back to 4-all before Williams took the first set.

Pliskova found her game in the second set and went up 4-2, but Williams got back on serve and forced the tiebreaker.